with the quarry soon....

Shiloh! He had to get Shiloh! Drew began to call upon all the horseman's
knowledge and scout's lore that he possessed. Those qualities, rather than
fighting power, were what he believed he needed now. With luck--always with
a large-sized helping of luck!

16

"Now that you have that bucked out, how about a little sound reasoning?"
Hunt Rennie still held his position, riding stirrup to stirrup with Drew.

The worst of it was, _Don_ Cazar was right. This was no time for raw
emotion to replace thinking. Already it was almost dusk and their quarry
could not be traced into the dark, even if they had the aid of a full
moon. The Kentuckian reined in. Growing shadows masked the country
ahead--rough territory--which he did not doubt the fugitives knew far better
than he did.

"All right." It was difficult, one of the most difficult things he had
ever done, to admit even that much that he must follow Rennie's lead.
"What do I do now?"

"You still think you can go it alone--want to?" Rennie's face was shadowed,
and his voice again held that remote note.

"It's my horse." Drew was defensive.

"Stolen on my range," Rennie retorted. "This is far more my fight than
yours. If we didn't get Kitchell back there at the pass, and I'm inclined
to believe that we did not, then I want him! You don't kill a rattler by
cutting off his rattles--you go for the head. But this rattler's on his
home land and he knows where to hole up. We have only one card to play
against him."

"What's that, suh?"

"Water. Oh, I know all the rumors that the Apaches have secret water holes
back in the hills, and they may have introduced Kitchell to some of them.
But the hills are behind him. He'll want just one thing now, to get south,
across the border. He's lost a large number of his men, probably all of
his loot, back there at the pass. He can't hold out here any longer. Once
he's into Sonora we can't touch him--I know he has friends down there."

"Could he try to take the wagon road south?"

"As a last resort, perhaps. The pass was the only outlet through which he
could run that band of stolen horses and his pack mules. But there are
other places, at least two I know of, where a few men, riding light, can
get through. I believe he'll try to head for one of those."

"Make it ahead of us now?"

Rennie laughed shortly. "If he does, he'll have a warm reception. The
Pimas are already scouting both passes. We plann